


And if you hear the silence (I hope you find it charming)

by CloudCover (RainyForecast)



Series: Hockey RPF Tumblr Prompts [7]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/M, girl!Geno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 14:57:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10879182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainyForecast/pseuds/CloudCover
Summary: He really meets Evgenia Vladimirovna Malkina for the first time in Mario’s foyer. Game tape and NHL draft interview footage had been no preparation for looking (up) into her tired but shining eyes and being set back on his heels by her wide, ecstatic smile.Tumblr Prompt:i-am-really-sorry asked:I would love some girl!Geno AU, and well Sidney being in love with her as always; maybe he has told her this or maybe he hasn't but yeah... I would love to read that. :)))





	And if you hear the silence (I hope you find it charming)

He really meets Evgenia Vladimirovna Malkina for the first time in Mario’s foyer. Game tape and NHL draft interview footage had been no preparation for looking (up) into her tired but shining eyes and being set back on his heels by her wide, ecstatic smile. They shake hands and all she says is his name, in heavily accented tones that somehow manage to convey just how relieved and ferociously happy she is to be there. 

  
Sid’s own name has never sounded so good to him before.

 ***

Sid swore to himself he would do anything in his power not to be That Guy. He was going to be a gentleman and a supportive teammate with every fiber of his being. He was. He would be. But he hadn’t expected to fall head over heels for Evgenia, or Gena, almost from the moment they met. She was just so— so herself. Dynamic and funny and wickedly good at hockey. Fuck, when she hit someone on the ice for Sid’s sake and would go shouting and fuming to the penalty box, face like a winter storm, it was just—

“Oh, kid,” Duper says from beside Sid on the bench.

“I know, I know,” Sid says. “Don’t worry, I’m not ever going to say or do anything stupid.”

“Hm,” Duper answers, but doesn’t comment further.

   ***

  
Gena and Oxana are off and on, on and off. In between, Gena has a propensity for making out with hot girls and guys in shadowy club corners. She and Sid are friends, really good friends. Gena doesn’t owe Sid anything. Sid knows not to let on how he feels, and over the years his feelings become a gentle background ache. He’s a hockey player, he knows how to deal with those.

***

With his concussions comes a wave of depression. He might never play hockey again, and without hockey, he doesn’t know who he is. What he’s for.

The team was initially told that he couldn’t receive visitors and it’s really pretty easy to just….let the status quo continue. He doesn’t want to see them. He doesn’t have the strength to put on a brave face and he doesn’t want to drag them down.

Gena gives him a few weeks, but eventually barges into his place with an armload of mysterious bags and a mulish expression. She faces him in the kitchen like he’s an opposing player across a faceoff dot, and angrily reaches in her bags and plunks down, in succession, a cheesecake, a boxed set of _Friends_ , a tin of tea with a Cyrillic label, and a bouquet of only slightly bedraggled sunflowers.

“Don’t whine about flowers being ‘girl thing’.” she snaps. “Flowers are nice. Make boy feel better, too.”

Sid can only nod his head, and to his horror tears prick at his eyes. Gena’s anger melts from her face and she gathers him up into her arms, rocking him back and forth a little. She smells like the crappy shower soap from the arena and cucumber-melon Lady Speed Stick.

“Shhhh, Sid,” she whispers. “Gonna be ok, I promise.”

 ***

Gena’s been giving him considering looks for days now and he’s getting jumpy, to be honest. Now, they’re sitting at a nice bar walking distance from Rogers Arena in Vancouver, and she’s doing it again. A couple guys came along but Gena and Sid ended up in the back of the booth, and the rest of the guys are all distracted by some ridiculous story Tanger’s telling.

“What?” Sid finally asks. “What’s the matter, Gena?”

“You break up with Kathy,” she says, and that was not at all what he was expecting.

“Yeah?”

“Why not date. Long, long time, no dating. Why?”

Hell no. He was not going there. No chance. Because the honest answer is “Because I’ve been in love with you for almost a decade.”

“You nice guy, beautiful guy. Why no girlfriend?” Gena tilts her head to one side consideringly and Sid prays the lighting is dim enough to hide how red his face is getting. _Beautiful_? “You lonely, I’m think.” No, no no no no no— “I’m find you someone. I know some model, very beautiful, you like blonde? Brunette? Only very sweet, very nice, I’m think. Sid like nice girls.” Something about the set of her mouth is almost…sad as she says it.

Sid wants to bang his head against the table. No, he wants to say. I don’t like nice girls. I like tall, tall girls with brown hair who are pushy and take too many penalties and who swear a lot in Russian and like whiskey more than vodka. But he only shakes his head and says: “Gena. Don’t” and tries to change the subject.

***

They’ve won. They’ve won the fucking Stanley Cup. Gena’s shirt is soaked with champagne and plastered to her skin. Sid’s face is shoved into her neck as she hugs him and screams incoherently into his ear. Waves of noise and elation pound against Sid’s head and he wants to see, he wants to see her face. He doesn’t want to miss a second of the joy etched there. When he leans back, looks into her face, she’s staring at him, eyes wide and dark. And she kisses him. Hard.

“FUCKING FINALLY!!” Flower roars from behind them and later, when they’re curled up together on one of the lounge chairs at Mario’s pool, legs tangled together, she asks him about it.

“What Flower mean, finally?” she says, running a hand through Sid’s unruly play offs hair.

“I’ve…liked you for a really, really long time,” he says, and then realizes that might not be clear enough. “Loved. Loved you. For a long time.” She stares at him, and just when he’s started to feel like maybe he’s just made a terrible mistake, she tackles him onto his back. 

There’s a chorus of shouts from the pool, ranging from “ _get it_ , Gena,” to “get a fucking room you fucks!” She grins down at him.

“Should we do? Get room?”

“I live across the street,” he manages to choke out, and she laughs and hauls them both to their feet.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a Tumblr prompt fill and is un-beta'd. 
> 
> Title is from Apache Relay's ["Katie Queen of Tennessee" ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY_-ppXvt4o)  
>  
> 
> You can find me as [creaturesofnarrative ](http://creaturesofnarrative.tumblr.com/) (main) and [knifeshoeoreofight](http://knifeshoeoreofight.tumblr.com/) (hockey blog) on Tumblr, and as RainyForecast on Twitter. Come say hi and cry with me about how hockey both real and fictional has eaten our lives.


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